Comparison

India vs Afghanistan

Side-by-side comparison of how these places approach childhood.

At a glance

India

In India, children in the same city can attend schools ranging from under a tree to campuses rivaling Silicon Valley.

India's education system spans extraordinary extremes โ€” from world-class tech academies to open-air classrooms โ€” reflecting the country's vast economic diversity.

Afghanistan

Since 2021, Afghan girls over 12 are banned from attending school.

The Taliban's return ended two decades of progress in girls' education, affecting 1.4 million secondary-school girls.

How they compare
School systems
Exam-driven model

India

A vast system spanning 1.5 million schools with enormous variation in quality. The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) aims to shift from rote learning to conceptual understanding, restructuring schooling into a 5+3+3+4 model beginning at age 3.

Gender-restricted crisis model

Afghanistan

Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, girls above grade 6 are banned from school and women from universities. Boys' education continues but with revised curriculum emphasizing religious studies. Before 2021, enrollment had risen from near-zero for girls to 3.5 million.

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โ† India profile ยท Afghanistan profile โ†’